Kent Kresa (born March 24, 1938) is an American businessman. Formerly, he was Chairman and CEO of

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

, as well as Chairman of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

and has worked with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), the Lincoln Laboratory at M.I.T,

Avery Dennison Avery Dennison Corporation is a multinational manufacturer and distributor of pressure-sensitive adhesive materials (such as self-adhesive labels), apparel branding labels and tags, RFID inlays, and specialty medical products. The company is a ...

, the

Fluor Corporation Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastru ...

, and the MannKind Corporation. Before being appointed as interim chairman of General Motors as a result the decisions made by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, Kresa served on the board.

Education

Kresa was born in

New York City, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

; his father was the songwriter

Helmy Kresa Helmy Kresa, (born in Meissen, Germany on November 7, 1904, died 1991, Long Island, New York) was a songwriter and the principal arranger and orchestrator for Irving Berlin. In 1931, Kresa wrote " That's My Desire", which Frankie Laine, Loui ...

. He has B.S., M.S., and E.A.A. degrees from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in aeronautics and astronautics and received an honorary doctorate of laws degree from

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

in 2003.

Career

Kent Kresa's career began when he was employed by the top-secret Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, where he was responsible for broad, applied research and development programs in the tactical and strategic defense arena. Then from 1961–68, Kresa was associated with the Lincoln Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), where he worked on

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

defense research and reentry technology. Kresa then joined the Northrop Grumman in 1975 and then was Chairman in 1987 and became CEO in 1990. In 1997, he was elected as a member into the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

for contributions in aeronautical technology. When Kresa took over

, he transformed the company which like GM was on the brink of extinction. In a 2002 Los Angeles Times interview, when the company was on the verge of closing, Kresa was quoted saying, "We could just go out of business and give money back to our shareholders or we could reinvent ourselves...It became clear to us we could take the latter path." Under Kresa's control, Northrop Grumman was transformed resulting in the acquisition of 16 companies including TRW and the Space Park in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Sa ...

. Overall, Northrop went from an annual revenue of $5 billion to $28 billion during the time of the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. Kresa retired from head of Northrop in 2003. On November 3, 2003, the Carlyle Group hired Kresa as a Senior Advisor to its aerospace and defense group. Kresa commented on his hiring by stating, “I’ve known the Carlyle executives for many years and have an abiding respect for their approach and judgment. For years, Carlyle has played a significant role in the aerospace and defense market. Carlyle has a straightforward approach to its business and delivers on its promises. I’m delighted to be associated with them.” He was named the Chairman of GM on March 30, 2009 after

Rick Wagoner George Richard "Rick" Wagoner Jr. (born February 9, 1953) is an American businessman and former chair and chief executive officer of General Motors. Wagoner resigned as chairman and CEO at General Motors on March 29, 2009, at the request of the W ...

, the Chairman and CEO of GM was ordered to resign by U.S. President Barack Obama. In an interview in 2008, he was asked if he thought that bailout money should come with a requirement that Wagoner be ousted. He replied "...And we're going to have to look at whatever the demands are from the individual who's bringing the money. But I don't think it's reasonable." Kresa was replaced as Chairman by former

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

CEO

Ed Whitacre Edward Earl Whitacre Jr. (born November 4, 1941) is the former Chairman and CEO of General Motors. He is also a former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of AT&T, previously Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC). He served as nat ...

on July 10, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kresa, Kent 1938 births Living people General Motors former executives Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering American chief executives MIT School of Engineering alumni